The Gospel

Jerry Canupp

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In keeping our (my) theme for the year, we are going to walk with Christ… specifically, we are going to experience His life on Sunday mornings through the Gospel of Mark.

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’ ”

4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. 8 I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

What causes you to wonder? …to be amazed, in awe?

· The birth of a child

· The Grand Canyon

· Images from the Hubble Telescope

· Ect…

The Gospel!

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Gospel (evangelion) means Good News. We get the word, evangelism… It was used in Roman context for a king or prince returning from a journey – most often a battle. The Good News was heralded that the king had returned (with victory in his hand).

But this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God:

Notice those three names or titles for our Lord Jesus.

First, He is Jesus.

From one perspective, there was nothing unusual about the name Jesus. It was a common designation in the biblical world, and many Jewish parents gave their boys this name. It speaks of His humanity, His ordinariness. But it also speaks of His extra ordinariness. Jesus is the New Testament version of the Old Testament name Joshua, and it comes from two shorter Hebrew words—the name Yahweh coupled with the verb to save—literally, “Yahweh Saves.” That explains the angel’s message to Joseph: “You shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins” ().

This name embodies His mission and conveys His purpose. The whole teaching of the Bible is this: The God who created us is very powerful and very pure, but all of us have brought shame and disgrace upon ourselves. We are all sinners, and sinners cannot inhabit God’s presence in eternity. So God Himself became a man—Jesus Christ—born through the womb of a virgin; He Himself was pure, sinless, and perfect. When He died on the cross, He bore the penalty and punishment for our sins so that in Him we might have forgiveness and eternal life, not on the basis of our own merits, but on the basis of His righteousness, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave.

says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (NIV). This truth is bound up in His name Jesus— Yahweh Saves!

Second, He is the Christ.

This is the English translation of the Greek work Christos, which was the Greek term for the Hebrew word Messiah. It literally means Anointed One.

Long before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Old Testament prophets predicted that a Messiah would be sent into the world, anointed by God, to provide the human race with hope, heaven, forgiveness of sin, and everlasting life. Seven centuries before Christ was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;” ().

Mark quoted Isaiah in verse 2,concerning the ministry of John: “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’ ”

He predicted the coming of the Anointed One, the Christ.

Third, Jesus is the Son of God.

This is a classic title for Jesus, but many people underestimate its meaning because we don’t hear those three words—Son of God—as they were understood in Bible times. We take them literally, but among the Hebrews it was an idiomatic phrase. They often used father-and-son terminology not just to convey lineage, but characteristics. To say “son of” was to mean “possessing the distinctives of.”

For example, … In the Gospels, Jesus referred to James and John as “sons of thunder” because of their volatile temper. When our Lord called Himself the “Son of Man,” He was, on one level, stressing His humanity. He possessed the characteristics of a human being—He was a man. When He called Himself the “Son of God,” He was emphasizing His deity, His God-ness. He wasn’t saying that He was less than God or a product or prodigy of God. He was claiming to be God Himself! It was a message His Jewish audience couldn’t miss, as the Bible makes clear in , “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” Jesus Is God!

Let that fully sink in. Never lose the wonder of it! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message that God “took on flesh” and lived in your place.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” ()

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” ()

John the Baptist heralded more than he knew

Jesus baptism, a preview of His victory

… compare to:

13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. 16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

The reality of everyone who responds in faith to the Gospel

…behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

“but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” ()